Abstract — Higher plants are recognized as excellent genetic models to detect environmental mutagens and are frequently used in monitoring studies. Among the plant species, Allium cepa has been used to evaluate DNA damage, such as chromosome aberrations and disturbances in the mitotic cycle. Nowadays, it has been used to assess a great number of genotoxic agents, which contributes to its increasing application in environmental monitoring. A. cepa is commonly used as a test organism because it is cheap, easily available and has advantages over other short-term tests. This study determined if there are possible genotoxicity effects induced by tubli (Derris elliptica) root extract in A. cepa root tip cells. A. cepa was exposed to D. elliptica root extract with different concentrations, 0.2%, 0.5%, and 1% for T1, T2, and T3, respectively, and the control, T0 treated with distilled water. Both the control and the experimental setups were treated respectively for 6 hours. The highest aberrant cells were observed when A. cepa were exposed in T1 revealing a percentage of 1.13%. The type of chromosomal aberration detected in A. cepa was mostly found in the metaphase and anaphase stages. The common abnormalities were breaks, fragments, and bridges while nucleated and multipolar cells were evident in the telophase stage. This study
shows a significant difference in the mitotic index in the total percentage of aberrant cells in Allium cepa showing possibilities of the genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of high existence of rotenone in Derris elliptica root. This indicates the interference of toxic agents like rotenone in the normal growth of cells. Plants with such abnormalities may transfer altered genetic makeup not only to their offspring but also to humans when consumed as food thereby causing further complications.
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